Buftex

I have mentioned the same thing (what Spinwall said) in a few threads here, over the years... I guess everyone watches for different reasons... to me, the conflicts which the series (anti) heroes have with their wives are what make the shows realistic, and give them depth. You take those characters out of the story (or kill them off, as everyone always implores) you just have another action-adventure show...what gives the shows resonance, at least for me, is being able to empathize with the good and bad sides of the characters...their conflicts with their wives, and how their dark side affects their families, are half the drama. I remember that great episode of "Breaking Bad", this past season, where Walt goes underneath the house to get all the money that he has. For all intents and purposes he sold his soul to the devil for that money. He needed to justify his "breaking bad", because he wanted to leave his family in good financial shape when he passed...well, now he isn't going to die anytime soon, and, he has ruined his family, the very thing he was trying to save...that moment, with the insane laughter coming from the ground, became the moment where Walt, officially, completed the act of "breaking bad"...after that, nothing else mattered. Interesting to hear you say that Pooj. I have watched all of the first two seasons...overall I really enjoyed it, but there was a point, beween season one and two, where I wondered why I liked it so much... but, then I remembered Emmy Rossom (sp?) and decided to watch the 2nd season...I am not sure why I like it, but I do...though some of the situations are a little far-fetched...but the cast is really strong...I hear that the BBC version of the show, which was on for years, is very good too. AJ, don't you think the wife, and the "idiotic" sister are kind of there to establish what the "gray areas" are?

Sorry, this was my parody of all the threads that keep being started...the Gailey/Wannestedt thread was the one that sent me over the edge! I am optimistic about the 2012 Bills team, but I think people are getting a little too ahead of themselves! I should have added a at the end of my original post!

I was thinking, the 2012 Bills are probably the best team in franchise history...you could say it as the 1965 or 1966 teams, which won AFL cahmpionships, but you have to remember, that was the AFL, not the NFL. And then, you might argue it was one of the four Super Bowl teams, but then, you have to remember that they lost all four Super Bowls, so, they might have only been the 16th (no Carolina and Jacksonville yet) best team in the league in those seasons. So, with all the players the Bills have added this year, the best available free agent DE in Mario Williams, a name guy at back-up QB in Steve Young, and a nice complimentary pass rusher DE on the other side in Mark Anderson, I feel confident that the 2012 Buffalo Bills are the best team in the history of the franchise. All that, along with keeping the core of last years 6-10 team make me feel like the sky is the limit!!!! Thoughts?

Must admit, I really kind of lost track of the Sabres for most of the 90's...I moved to NYC and then Texas, and it was hard to follow them...still pre-internet, pre NHL Center Ice days, for me, at least...so I would go see the Sabres if they played the Rangers or Devils, and catch them on ESPN2 a 3 or 4 times a year..and maybe in a game in Buffalo on a trip back...but I didn't really know those teams very well. I pretty much missed the whole LaFontaine/Mogilny era... I would watch them in the playoffs, when they were on ESPN2...I remember staying up all morning to watch Hasek in the Olympics...IIRC, it was the year after they made it to the finals (or was it 2 years?) that Center Ice started...it was awesome!

Actually, I maybe shouldn't have included Mike Foligno in my list...though he was a mainstay on those teams. Other than Perreault, he is my all-time favorite Sabre. It was pretty cool to see Marcus have such a huge impact late in the season...but alas, they still came up short. I always loved Folingo, and Ray Sheppard...Foligno, just cuz he was exciting to watch, and played with lots of fire...and Shep, just because I have always loved the "sniper" type players. For some reason, Andreychuk always drove me crazy...ironically, he had the best career of all of them...still dig those teams... but, you know what I mean...

If the Lakers can pull out back to back wins (literally) tonight, you have to give them respect. I am one of those folks who, as I get older, has more respect for guys like Kobe, than hatred. I always want my team to beat him, but part of me kind of pulls for them, because you realize his days are numbered...and you start to appreciate how many great moments he has given you over the years, as a fan of the NBA. Felt the same about Elway and Favre too...never Marino though! I will never be a Lakers fan, but I am not a hater either...I suspect, I will come around to LeBron at some point too...I remember just hating Shaq at one time...but it was when he, and a young Kobe, lost one of their finals appearences, early on, and Shaq was just so pathetic at the free throw line...I started to empathize with him...and grew to like him. Was thrilled when he joined the Celtics, but disappointed that he couldn't stay healthy enough to really contribute.

Wow...there is a blast from the past...Paul Cyr. I am pretty nostalgic when it comes to Bills/Sabres teams from the 70's and 80's...back when I still lived in WNY, and was old enough to decide if I was going to a game or not...my brother and I were talking about those 80's Sabres teams, just toward the end of this current regular NHL season. We were both bemoaning the fact that the current Sabres were so much like those 80's teams, in the sense that there was this "core" group of players (Andreychuk, Sheppard, Folingo, Ruff, and Paul Cyr) that were solid NHL'ers, always competitive in the regular season, but never a serious threat in the playoffs. Cyr was kind of the modern day Ales Kotalik...great shooter, strong...had a few "nice" seasons in Buffalo, but never really could take his game to a higher level. I think he bounced around to a few different teams after Buffalo gave up on him, and never really had any greater impact anywhere else. Sad to hear his passing...he was only 2 years older than me...kind of strange when your contemporaries start dropping. RIP Paul!

I don't get to see Sapp on the NFLN (thanks Time Warner) too often, but I think he is actually pretty good on "Inside The NFL" with James Brown, Collinsworth and Phil Simms.

Agreed...Collins is a great coach, have always liked him. That team came out in the 2nd half and looked like a different team than they had in the last 6 qrts. Basketball is a funny game...a team can just hit everything, or nothing....Iguadola (sp?) is one of those guys who can be a game changer. 76ers really got a great game from their bench. I am impressed by them...I honestly hadn't seen them play a whole lot this year, unless they were playing the Celtics, or another odd game here or there on ESPN/TNT. Good thing for them, even if they don't win this series, they look like they are building a good team...it would be wild of the 76ers and Pacers made it to the conference finals...even if Miami comes back and wins that series, I kind of get the sense, the 76ers could give the Heat some trouble. Congrats! I was a little disappointed with Doc Rivers tonight...he should have (maybe he did) have stressed them to keep feeding Pierce...PP didn't get the ball enough, IMO. Also, I kept wanting him to call a timeout, earlier on, when it was clear that Philly wasn't going away...he just kind of let them play through it, Phil Jackson style. Celtics are an emotional team that plays with a lot of adrenaline...they can get a little stupid sometimes...Doc normally calls a TO, and settles them down. The bench was crud tonight...but that happens on the road, especially in the playoffs...been a really fun series! Not artistically beautiful, but games 1,2 and 4 have all been nail biters.

Great game for the Sixers... they sure looked awful the first half...but they shot great in the second...very entertaining game...though, obviously, I hate the outcome...can't wait for Monday! Having 2 days off might help the green geezers...they looked dead at the end of this game...

It sure seems that way, but it is always hard for me to count the Lakers out, until they are really out. I know you are a big Lakers guy...does the coach get a chance to stick around next season, assuming they lose this series?

So, is anyone still watching the playoffs? Are the Lakers done? Are the Heat done?

I have never heard that...you are killing me in this thread! That's priceless!

Not only are we the same age, but I was at that game too...I had an awesome time...I had been there to see the Bills/Jets before, but never Bills/Giants. Must say, Giants fans, in general, were much cooler. I didn't have any kids with me, and I did take some ribbing on my way to the game (took the bus from Manhatten/Port Authority), but nothing out of line. Honeslty, it makes it kind of fun...I remember coming here after that game, and a bunch of people posted how they thought Giants fans were the biggest A-holes around...my experience was completely the opposite. I will throw in, my best friend and I had season tickets through most of the 1980's (moved away just when they got really good ). During the 1985 season my buddy got "sick" (I still contend he was faking cuz he couldn't stand wathcing them anymore- they were bad!), and I had a really hard time gettnig anyone interested in going...so I dragged my little sister with me to a few games, she was about 13...to this day, she has no interest in ever going to a Bills game again...she will go to any Sabres game...but absolutely no Bills games.

Yes, the new CBA would seem to make it less likely that you will have first round draft picks holding out, as in the past.

At first, I thought she was just being pretentious...but the more I got to know her family, I realized they could have been the Royal Tenenbaums. They were so oddly out of synch with everything around them...they were fun, in a strange way... I remember after first meeting her whole family saying something like "My family would be the Munsters to your Adams Family" She didn't find it particularly funny, though my sister thought it was hoot...I remember staying over night at her folks house one weekend, and it just so happened that the Bills were playing the Eagles in a pre-season game in London (IIRC)...it was a night game...I was hoping to watch it, or, at least some of it...Alyson told me the only tv in the house was in the upstairs (attic) room. I went up there, found the game...along with a huge porn stash her fathter kept up there...I guess it was his "man cave"...he wasn't trying to hide anything. He gave me all kinds of crap the next morning for watching "FOOT-ball"... Even if she wasn't the best kisser...those eyes...they made quite an impression, obviously! As for Orson Wells...I was referring to those Paul Mason wine commercials he did, probably not too long before he died...I don't know jack about wine, but I remember those commercials would come on, and my dad would chuckle and say "Yeah, I am sure Orson Wells drinks that swill"

Was just thinking about this...I remembered, when I first moved to NYC in the late 80's, I started dating this girl who played cello, and was studying at Julliard. Her family was from Upper Montclair, New Jersey...a nice, quaint little town, as snooty as it's name. We were dating for a few months, and her dad wanted to meet me....he had an office downtown Manhatten. He tells us to meet him at the Players Club. This is a "club" comprised of actors and musicians who have have screen or recording credits...her father, Fred, had a promising career as an opera singer, back in the 1950's-early 1960's. He had to give it up, to take over his family business...a bone of contention that lasted for decades. Fred is this sort of wealthy, nutty, eccentric...he always made me laugh, sometimes inappropriately...so, we sit down, and after a few drinks, he waives over for a friend of his who just walked in...his friend and his lovely frualien sit across the table from us...Fred, her father says "Dirk, I want you to meet my good friend Werner" Now, I ignore the fact that he has called me Dirk, as it is not my name (my name is Dennis, over the years he called me every male D name he could think of, except for Dennis), and I focus on his friend...it is none other than Werner Klemperer...Colonel Klink, minus the monocle. I do (or did) a pretty damn good Colonel Klink imitation in my day, and I almost broke into it, before I caught myself...crap, as a kid, me and my friends used to play "Hogan's Heroes". I loved that show when I was about 10-13 The whole rest of the night, I am sitting across the table from Colonel Klink, and I seem to be the only one who cares...afterwords, after Klemperer is no longer in our presence, I start saying things like "there has never been a successful escape from Satalag 13" They are both looking at me like I am an idiot...I stopped...Alyson and I hop the subway home, and she says "what the hell were you talking about?" I am like "I was doing my Colonel Klink imitation" She is looking at me like she has no idea what I am talking about..."why?" she asks. "You know, I loved "Hogan's Heroes" when I was a kid" Then she tells me she has no idea what "Hogan's Heroes" is...she knows "Werner" only as the son of the great Otto Klemperer, and as a violinist who her father knew from his days in Germany, where most of his opera career took place. Of course, being the simpleton that I was (am?), I had no idea who Otto Klemperer was... not surprisingly, Alyson and I only lasted a few years together...I was definitely out of my class! We moved to Texas together, and split up about a year later

Honestly, lost in the brew ha-ha over Brees, is that Tom Benson, the team owner, was really bummed that Katrina kept him from moving his team out of New Orleans...I wouldn't be surprised if he still has a back-burner desire to move them to Los Angeles, or San Antonio. Also, and I may have this wrong, but didn't Brees restructure his contract twice, to help the Saints salary cap situation...I recall the Saints, on more than one occasion, assuring that Brees would be taken care of. I hope that all you who think the Saints paying Brees are opposed to the Bills giving Fred Jackson a raise.

Sinatra in a gold Bentley! When cool was still cool... I bet Mr Wells wasn't drinking Paul Mason with his dinner!

Hey, as a white guy, over 40, I resent this!!!!

Just heard on the radio...disco queen Donna Summer has passed away. Not necessarily a big fan of her music, but it is amazing how many "legends" of popular music are dropping these days... One of my favorites, Emmylou Harris, did a really nice cover of Summers song, "On the Radio", that made me "hear" that song in a different light:

Yesterday (5/15) marked the 14th anniversary of one of the all-time greates entertainers of the last century, and cultural icon, Frank Sinatra! Let me take this moment to link one of his lesser known songs, recorded in the 1980's...it is particularly appropriate for football fans, and anyone who has any regrets about what happned in the past...a sublime song! And, a great slice of melancholy, Sinatra style. "Monday Mornig Quarterback" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnI2s8BOY0Q

That is funny stuff! Why did Nickey want to change his order, may I ask? You don't mess with the Chairman...

J_t_6_p- did Brees really say he had to be the highest paid QB? I am not necessarily the worlds' biggest Drew Brees fan (though I got nothing against him) but it seems like the Saints have been talking, for a couple seasons now, about "taking care of" Brees financially. Let's face it, whether you like him or not, he is hugely responsible for making the Saints a relevant team...by all accounts, he has been a great teammate over the years, and represented the Saints well...not to mention his performance. I realize the Saints have other issues to deal with right now, but they should learn to walk and chew gum at the same time...whether Payton and Loomis were there or not, they knew this day was coming in dealing with Brees. It shouldn't be that difficult for them to figure it out. Unless they are being disingenuous about wanting Brees back. If that is the case, they should just tell him... Also, I don't think that the 2012 season is necessarily a "write-off" for the Saints. It will be, however, if they don't get Brees back in the fold sooner than later.

Celtics always answer when they lose...Sixers had me sweating it out late first, early second, but the sleeping giant has been awaken...as cliche as it is, the Celtics define the "heart of a champion" axiom. Garnett had another awesome game, as did Rondo...put Paul Pierce, IMO, was the one who forced his will onto the game, before it got away from them...so proud of this team...I wish all my sports teams had the same character.